Sydney Reviews

On a winter’s evening, as the dark replaces the grey of the day, city slickers head for the nearest bar in towering heels, layers of fashionable scarves, and coats that are too cool for the collar to ever be worn down.

Snuggled in the midst of Sydney’s booming bars and corporate buildings is the warm glow of a small church, lights and a hum of voices sneak through its stained glass windows. A crowd has gathered outside that gesture flamboyantly while in deep conversation with others standing under a neon light that reads Genesian Theatre; they wait for tonight’s performance to begin.

Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey plays, an adaptation by Matthew Francis. The crowd wander to their seats clutching large mugs of steaming coffee or petite glasses of red and white wine accompanied by music that whirls the world of Austen around an excited audience.

Adjusting myself in my seat numerous times I wait nervously for the performance to begin, hoping that the old Austen language, the complex plot and themes that inhabit many of her novels won’t baffle or send me to an unwanted deep sleep. Fifteen to twenty minutes into the production and I am nowhere near snoozing, I haven’t shuffled around once or used peripheral vision to entertain myself quietly, I sit with the feeling of having my mouth comfortably knitted together, so entertained that I don’t  think my eyes even flicker.

Our heroine Catherine Morland played delicately but with zest by Sam Prior is fixed between reality and the world of Ann Radcliffe’s novel, Udolpho. We witness the trials and tribulations of what it means to be a young heroine in an Austen novel, the growing pains that leave Catherine pulled in two as she takes on the battlefield that is Bath, instructed to find herself a husband, and the world of Udolpho where she can exist within childhood fantasies.

Catherine is faced with numerous struggles, one of which is the brother-sister team Isabella and John Thorpe. Isabella played astonishingly well by Tiffany C Stoecker forms a friendship with Catherine while trying to wed her brother James Morland – this ending in heartbreak for both Catherine and James. Isabella’s brother John played by Thomas Greeder attempts to woo Catherine which results in loud bursts of laughter from the audience; he plays the Austen style sleaze very well.

Amid the frenzy of becoming a woman, Catherine is rescued by Henry Tilney (Ray Mainsbridge), who becomes a loyal companion, featuring in both Catherine’s worlds of reality and fantasy, and eventually the love that suits her perfectly.

Surprisingly enough the trials and tribulations don’t end for Catherine in the world of reality. Even more surprising Austen doesn’t just present us with a complex love story either. As the audience delves into the world of fantasy with Catherine we are faced with murder, ghosts and ghouls, mysterious wooden chests and flying scrolls.

If you’re looking to be stimulated, entertained, or even to just relax for an evening and forget the world that lines five days of your week then I can’t advise Northanger Abbey strongly enough.

This production of Northanger Abbey is the Narnia that every single person searches for; the Genesian Theatre is the wardrobe that leads to the escape.


Genesian Theatre presents
Northanger Abbey
by Jane Austen | adapted by Matthew Francis

Directed by Carissa Teeling

Venue: Genesian Theatre | 420 Kent Street, Sydney
Dates: 9 July – 20 August, 2011
Times: Friday and Saturday @ 8pm, Sunday @ 4.30pm
Bookings: www.genesiantheatre.com.au